


Same Dark Places

by juggieheadcoopers



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Fluff, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-25 23:09:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10774416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juggieheadcoopers/pseuds/juggieheadcoopers
Summary: Betty is feeling overwhelmed by the darkness she feels, and Jughead is there to show her that there’s always a way to see the light





	Same Dark Places

**Author's Note:**

> There was this song that I heard today called Same Dark Places by JR JR that sounded like it could be a Bughead song to me and I just had to write a fic about it. 
> 
> Lyrics:   
> _I know everybody goes to the same dark places_
> 
> _Sometimes in the dead of night when you think that you can’t make it_
> 
>  
> 
> _You might find I left a light beside the bed for you_
> 
>  
> 
> _Cause I’ve been there too_

“Bets?” 

Jughead crawled through Betty’s window, sliding onto the cushioned bench below the windowsill and stepping into the pitch-black bedroom.

“What’s going on? I just got your text,” Jughead whispered, taking a step closer to her bed to find Betty curled up in a ball, wrapped in a blanket with her blonde hair brushed off to the side of her pillow.

“I can’t sleep,” she muttered into her pillow, her voice slightly muffled from the fabric. 

“I can see that,” Jughead pointed out, taking a seat at the edge of her bed and resting a hand on her hip. “Something on your mind?” 

“It’s just - everything,” Betty sighed, unable to say anything more. She had so many thoughts rolling around her mind that she didn’t know how to sort through them to find one coherent enough for anyone to comprehend. 

“Come on, Bets, you can talk to me,” Jughead prompted, his hand sliding up her arm to smooth down the hair sprawled across the pillow. 

Betty rolled onto her back, glancing up at the ceiling to focus on the dark shadows spread along the white surface. 

“Sometimes I lay awake at night and I can’t stop thinking about all that’s happened with Jason and Polly and my parents and Chuck and it gets to the point where I get so angry that I can’t breathe anymore. It’s like there’s this black shroud covering every part of me that’s so suffocating that I can’t - I can’t-”

Betty’s hands moved up to cover her face as the tears began to form in her eyes, leaving her unable to finish her sentence. 

“Hey, shhhh,” Jughead soothed, pulling her hands away from her face and tilting her chin towards him so that she would meet his gaze. “That dark place you’re talking about? You’re looking at a frequent flyer. In fact, I’m probably a VIP at this point. I’ve been there too many times to count.”

“How do you save yourself from drowning in it?” Betty asked in a small voice. “I search and I search for any sign of light but I can’t tell which way is up sometimes.” 

“You think about the parts of yourself and your life that give you any shred of joy or hope and you imagine those parts bursting with color and sunbeams and you keep thinking about it until the shroud lifts, even if it’s just a little,” Jughead told her. “At least that’s what I used to do when I was little. Now it’s a little different.” 

“What do you do now?” Betty wanted to know, her expression softening as she let herself find comfort in Jughead’s words. 

“I think about the girl with golden hair and a beautiful smile who lives next door to my best friend,” Jughead admitted, leaning forward to brush his fingers lightly across her cheek. “She tends to light up my whole world even on the darkest days.” 

“Jughead Jones, I’ve never heard you say anything so cliche in my entire life,” Betty teased, her lips curling into a slight smile as she let herself feel at ease for the first time in what felt like days. 

“This girl’s worth it,” Jughead told her, returning her smile with a mischievous one of his own. “Don’t tell anyone though. I have a reputation to uphold.”

“Secret’s safe with me,” Betty assured him, her smile beginning to fade as the darkness started to settle around her again. 

“And if none of those things work, there’s always this,” Jughead pulled out a round touch-light from his back pocket, holding it out for Betty to take as she sat up against the pillows on her bed. “I got this for you a few weeks ago when you first told me you were having trouble sleeping.”

“A night light?”

“I remembered the story you told me about the one your sister gave you when you were kids and how devastated you were when you lost it,” Jughead began, adjusting his position on the bed so that he was facing the wall above the nightstand. 

“Whenever you feel yourself drifting into your dark place, and you can’t find anything or anyone to pull you into the light I want you to hit the button beside your bed so that you know that you’re more than just the darkness you feel,” Jughead told her, removing the film from the back of the light and sticking it to the wall next to her bed. “You’re illuminated with so much love and life and beauty. And I want you to see that every time you turn on this light.” 

With one push of its round center, Jughead let the darkness be taken over by the light that he had given her with a soft, dim glow that completely changed the atmosphere of her room. 

“Juggie,” Betty breathed, smiling up at him as she took in the newly-illuminated version of her room that made her feel safe and happy for the first time in a long time. 

“Promise you’ll use it?” Jughead asked, taking her hand in his and raising a curious eyebrow in her direction. 

“I promise,” Betty assured him. “Thank you.” 

“That’s what I’m here for, Bets,” Jughead reminded her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and leaning back to meet her eyes. 

“But whenever I do turn it on, I won’t be thinking of me,” Betty admitted, reaching up to place a hand on the smooth skin of his cheek. “I’ll be thinking of the boy who cared enough to give this to me. He’s the one who brought the light into my life.” 

Betty scooted forward on the bed to lean in so close that her nose grazed gently against his. 

“I’ll never forget that.” 

With that, Betty met his lips with a soft kiss, letting her heart and mind and soul be filled with the light that Jughead had given her just by being there. Even if the darkness wouldn’t be gone completely, she knew that every time she turned on that light, she wouldn’t be alone.


End file.
